More Politics

On Tuesday, Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown declined to participate in a debate proposed by Vicki Kennedy, widow of the former Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy, because Kennedy would not meet his demands to remain neutral in the Senate race. Within hours, EMILY’s List, an advocacy group that has been a strong supporter of Brown’s Democratic challenger, Elizabeth Warren, took to Twitter with the hashtag #scottbrowndebatedemands.

EMILY’s List tweeted, "Scott Brown will only debate if the #redsox stay over .500#scottbrowndebatedemands.” Others picked up the hashtag, a phrase preceded by the pound sign that allows Twitter users to see all the posts marked with that phrase. Democratic Party spokesman Matt House chimed in, “@ScottBrownMA will only debate if none of the questions are about his weakening Wall St. reform.” Someone with the Twitter name Michael Ripple, who describes himself as a Boston cartoonist, writer and advocate chimed in, “All answers must be given in apple pie, God and mother platitudes.”

First created by a Twitter user in 2007, hashtags are among the online tools that “Twitterati” use to organize Twitter messages, and energize grassroots support. They are a forum where quick wit and sharp retorts rule. They are used by advocacy groups and average voters looking to make a point.

“Every time a campaign makes a hashtag to organize supporters, the other side jumps on to mock him,” said Zach Green, CEO of the Twitter consulting company 140Elect. “It’s become a sport…to hijack those hashtags.”

When President Obama’s campaign released the slogan “Forward,” with its own hashtag, Republicans responded, #forward off a cliff.

When Obama unveiled his slogan “We can’t wait,” referring to his use of executive orders to implement policies that Congress delayed acting on, that too was picked up by both sides of the aisle. This week, the Republican National Committee tweeted, “It’s been over 1200 days since Dem-controlled Senate passed a budget- #WeCantWait for them to do their job.”

Often, gaffes get turned into hashtags. For example, there was #ImRunningForOfficeForPetesSake, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s unfortunately phrased answer during a debate on why he fired the company that used illegal immigrants to care for his lawn.

Another currently trending topic is #ThreeWordsYouWillNeverHearObamaSay. Among the suggestions: “Holder is guilty,” “budget is balanced,” and “thanks for reelection.”

In the Brown-Warren race, the campaigns themselves have used few hashtags beyond basic organizational ones. According to an analysis by 140Elect, the substantive hashtags most often used by Brown were redsox and STOCKAct (five mentions each). The Stock Act is a law Brown supports prohibiting insider trading by members of Congress. The substantive hashtags most used by Warren were wallstreet (16 mentions) and lgbt (eight mentions). Warren has made regulating Wall Street a core of her campaign. She supports equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Hashtags are more prevalent in the presidential race, particularly by the Obama campaign. According to 140Elect, the Obama campaign used #ACA, the Affordable Care Act, 44 times in the last year, and #BuffettRule 41 times, referring to an Obama tax plan that would require the wealthy to pay higher taxes.

In New Hampshire, Secretary of State Bill Gardner – who has held his job since before the commercial Internet existed - became the subject of #BillGardnerFacts last year as he prepared to set the date for New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation 2012 presidential primary. Among the "facts": “The Founding Fathers wanted to sign the Declaration on June 27th, but Bill Gardner told them to move it back a week.” “God wanted to create the world in 11 days. Bill Gardner said seven.” And the one Gardner himself once quoted, when asked about the Twitter feed: “Bill Gardner is not bald; his hair just left his head out of fear”.

Sometimes, hashtags make more serious political statements. After the 2010 election, when anti-abortion conservatives won numerous congressional seats, Salon reported that someone with the name @IAmDrTiller, recalling the murdered abortion doctor George Tiller, urged women to Tweet #IHadAnAbortion. Numerous women responded, many along the lines of, “Almost half my life ago, #ihadanabortion. I’m not sorry. I’ve never been sorry. I will never be sorry. Just very, very grateful.”

As far away as Pakistan, a writer on a Pakistani news website noted in May that #shutupClinton became a top trending hashtag for Pakistanis to vent their anger after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested a top al-Qaida leader was hiding in Pakistan.

Green said while many hashtags get little notice, the most popular ones go viral. “That kind of organized mocking can energize those people. People tweet more and they jump on because it’s more fun when everyone’s doing it,” Green said.